Not too long ago, Mat posted about the Searaser wave power generator—a device that uses the power of sea swells to pump water uphill and generate electricity on land.
At the time, Mat had some reservations about scalability (and the name!), but he suggested it might be one to keep an eye on.
From being like a drop in the ocean, the ocean being the national usage of electricity, tidal energy is set to become much more to the ultimate energy mix of the future. According to a recent Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy and the Assesment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States, the coasts offer a potential 15% input to the national grid by 2030, meaning 1,420 TWh annually out of 4,000 Twh produced.
The UK’s climate Change Minister Greg Barker announced today that South West England will soon be home to the country’s first Marine Energy Park. The park, once completed, will stretch from Bristol to the Isles of Scilly and will have the potential to generate 27 gigawatts of power from the waves and tides of the area by 2050 – the same amount of power generated by 8 coal-fired plants. The project will draw on public and private resources with a huge boost from the world’s leading wave energy research and development facilities located along the future Marine Energy Park’s coastline.
France’s Alstom and Scotland’s SSE Renewables, on Jan. 17, announced the world’s largest ocean wave energy development project to date. The partners’ plan for the Costa Head Wave project calls for floating arrays of AWS Ocean Energy’s AWS-III wave turbines with total clean, renewable electricity-generating capacity as high as 200 megawatts (MW) to be installed in waters ranging from 60-75 meters (198-247.5 feet) deep about 5 kilometers off the coast of Orkney Main Island, according to a joint press release.
It will likely require three or more years of dedicated effort to get to the large-scale deployment stage, however. The Costa Head project will serve as the commercial proving ground for the full-scale, 2.5-MW AWS-III floating wave energy devices and AWS Ocean Energy system. A 1:9-scale prototype underwent testing at Loch Ness in 2010. Full-scale component testing is due to take place this year with support from the WATERS fund administered by Scottish Enterprise, and full-scale prototype testing is planned to take place at the European Marine Energy Centre in 2014.
The WaveRoller arrived on January 2nd at Portugal’s Peniche Shipyard for a much anticipated pilot test this summer off the coast of Portugal, one of the best testing sites in Europe for ocean energy. The scaled-up version for the pilot test is to be tested in the same waters near the sea shore of Peniche where its smaller prototype showed promise (Previous: WaveRoller Uses Swinging Door for Underwater Wave Energy.)
Wave energy involves very large machines that must survive harsh underwater conditions. Even this pre-commercial version weighs 280 tons, and the test has been financed by the European Commission.
Harnessing energy from the oceans involves a lot more than putting a generator in the water.
IBM Research today announced a project to monitor the impact of noise on marine ecosystems from a wave energy generator in Ireland. Done in conjunction with the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland, its part of an ongoing SmartBay project to monitor the environment of Galway Bay with sensors and telemetry to advance ocean energy.
To monitor the acoustic impact of wave power, a generator from OceanEnergy in Ireland is equipped with audio sensors. Data from the sensors is fed continuously to IBM’s data centers for analysis with the goal of understanding noise levels and the effect on the local ecosystem.
This question could fairly go unanswered at this point of time just because it does not need an explanation. Even a fifth grader today, could blindly recognize the need to shift to better, cleaner and safer sources of energy. Oil has already played its menacing role under the disguise of the greatest source of energy. Renewable energy should be a compulsion instead of being a point of discussion now. The sun, the wind and the water are three such elements whose energy is still highly unexplored, leave apart being used. Water is a potent and constant source of energy, keeping in mind that almost three quarters of the earth breathe life below water. An inexplicable source of bio energy, the ocean contains tremendous potential.
Like most renewable energy sources, ocean waves cannot compete with the low costs of fossil fuels. It’s expensive to get wave-generated electricity ashore and add it to a local grid. But what if wave-energy conversion could be used where it’s generated?
The U.S. Navy aims to find out. A few weeks ago it installed a system of what are called PowerBuoys, made by Ocean Power Technology. The buoys are bobbing in the Atlantic about 30 kilometers off the New Jersey coast. Each one contains hydraulic fluid and a generator.
By Sarah Fecht
The world’s ocean waves hold as much as 10 trillion watts, and engineers and startup companies are racing to find the best ways to tap the incredible resource that’s washing up on our shores every day. These designs—inspired by beach caves, oyster shells and airplane wings—could point the way to harnessing wave energy.
Zachary Shahan
From the top businesses using renewable energy to the different types of renewable energy to the numerous green jobs renewable energy creates to renewable energy usage by state to potential renewab
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